In this insightful episode of our podcast, we explore the critical role of relationship-building in classroom behavior management with education expert Ms. LaTisha Ware. She emphasizes the need for establishing strong connections with students, setting the foundation in the first two weeks, and creating individual plans tailored to each child’s needs. Through observation, parent collaboration, and data collection, Miss Letitia shares practical strategies for ensuring students feel safe and supported, enabling academic and personal growth. Tune in for actionable insights on fostering a nurturing and effective classroom environment.
Key Takeaways:
* Importance of Relationships: Building strong, empathetic relationships with students is crucial for effective classroom management.
* Maslow Before Bloom: Meeting students' basic emotional and social needs is essential before expecting academic achievements.
* Practical Strategies: Dedicate initial weeks to relationship-building and establishing classroom processes and procedures.
* Data-Driven Approaches: Use observations and data collection to understand and address individual student needs.
* Parental Involvement: Collaborate with parents to create comprehensive plans that support students' success both in and out of the classroom.
Guest Bio:
LaTisha D. Ware is the CEO and founder of Minds Under Construction LLC. Dedication to nurturing and uplifting others has been the cornerstone of my educational mission. As an educator, LaTisha learned that to enlighten young minds, she must first cultivate a foundation of love, understanding, and security within the environment she creates. She became a relentless advocate for her students, providing them with the necessary social, emotional, and academic tools to thrive.
LaTisha's six-year tenure as a Distinguished Teacher at the secondary level, followed by three years as a School Counselor and a member of the Administrative Team, has been marked by a commitment to excellence and empathy. As a Certified Professional Coach, Trauma and Crisis Specialist, and a proactive member of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee of the Lone Star State School Counselor Association, she continuously strives to broaden her impact.
LaTisha specializes in crafting and leading compelling adult learning experiences, mentoring teachers to unleash their full potential, and carefully analyzing academic and behavioral data to personalized learning plans that cater to each student's needs.
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00:00:00 --> 00:00:07 <v LaTisha>When we, as educators, teach our students or we want to reach our students, we forget that they're people.
00:00:07 --> 00:00:17 <v LaTisha>We forget that we are people too, and the same way we want to be treated is the way that we want to treat our babies.
00:00:23 --> 00:00:24 <v J. Lee>Hello, hello everyone.
00:00:24 --> 00:00:30 <v J. Lee>Welcome to School After Hours podcast, where we talk about all things related to out-of-school time programming and education.
00:00:30 --> 00:00:35 <v J. Lee>I am your host, jaylee, and we are starting the fifth season of this podcast.
00:00:35 --> 00:00:48 <v J. Lee>I'm super excited about the conversations we will have during this season and, to start us off right, we will be discussing the critical role of relationship building when it comes to behavior management.
00:00:48 --> 00:00:58 <v J. Lee>In this episode, education expert Letitia Ware dives into the crucial role of relationship building when it comes to managing behaviors of our students, or our youth.
00:00:58 --> 00:01:11 <v J. Lee>She emphasizes the need for establishing strong connections with students, setting the foundation for expectations and creating individual plans tailored to each student's needs.
00:01:11 --> 00:01:22 <v J. Lee>This episode is a must-listen for anyone involved in educational settings seeking practical strategies for managing student behavior effectively.
00:01:22 --> 00:01:26 <v J. Lee>So, without further ado, let's go ahead and get into it.
00:01:26 --> 00:01:37 <v J. Lee>Hey, everyone, we have made it to our interview section of our podcast, so we have Ms Letitia Ware here with us today.
00:01:37 --> 00:01:45 <v J. Lee>We're going to be talking about some things for classroom management, but also how to make these individual plans for these children too, okay, so we can get them all the way together.
00:01:45 --> 00:01:49 <v J. Lee>But before we get into that, we're going to have Ms Letitia go ahead and introduce herself.
00:01:49 --> 00:01:55 <v J. Lee>Give us a little bit of background about you so the people can know who you are and what you do.
00:01:55 --> 00:01:57 <v J. Lee>So go ahead and give us that story.
00:01:58 --> 00:01:59 <v LaTisha>I am Letitia Ware.
00:01:59 --> 00:02:03 <v LaTisha>I am the founder and CEO of Minds Under Construction.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:07 <v LaTisha>I'm an education and transformational consultant.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:14 <v LaTisha>I essentially help people reach their highest potential With educators.
00:02:14 --> 00:02:30 <v LaTisha>I help them build relationships with students so that they can educate them, so that both the teacher and student can thrive, and to help them, you know, have a better school year and have a better classroom environment.
00:02:30 --> 00:02:48 <v LaTisha>What I don't want to see is any classroom teacher who is frustrated, fed up, ready to leave the system when they came in, knowing that they want to create change, they want to help these students and they have a passion for it.
00:02:48 --> 00:02:55 <v LaTisha>I hope you continue that passion with building those relationships and helping to build a community within your classroom.
00:02:55 --> 00:02:56 <v LaTisha>That's right.
00:02:58 --> 00:03:04 <v J. Lee>Well, thank you for being here with us and sharing your story, but also giving us a little background about yourself.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:23 <v J. Lee>So, as we've come back and we're getting accustomed to everything based on what has gone on in the pandemic kids coming back into the system, we're getting back into routines we noticed that we've seen a couple of challenges along the way, not just with student behavior, but also, you know, teachers kind of getting acclimated to the new system as well, right?
00:03:23 --> 00:03:38 <v J. Lee>So my question for you is is, when we see students, you know, having these moments that's what I call them having these moments or these challenges, what should we keep in mind as educators to try to help them deal with what their situation is?
00:03:40 --> 00:03:47 <v LaTisha>First thing I want for us to be able to keep in mind is, with everything that you do, you want to show empathy.
00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 <v LaTisha>There are the kids that we deal with on a daily basis.
00:03:52 --> 00:04:00 <v LaTisha>They have seen more hurt, harm, danger than we ever have seen.
00:04:00 --> 00:04:15 <v LaTisha>They are dealing with some things that adults can't deal with, and so it's our responsibility as educators to create an environment where they feel that they are safe.
00:04:15 --> 00:04:16 <v LaTisha>And how do we do that?
00:04:16 --> 00:04:36 <v LaTisha>We do that by building those relationships, making them feel comfortable, creating a warm environment where they feel safe to make a mistake, where they feel safe to answer a question, where they feel safe to explore the things that they wouldn't normally be able to.
00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 <v LaTisha>So I want that to be first and foremost.
00:04:39 --> 00:04:45 <v LaTisha>You know, with anything that you do as human beings, we want to be able to show show empathy with that.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:59 <v LaTisha>But one of the other things I want you to take into consideration when you are dealing with I'm going to say those kids, because we always have those kids, the kids that walk in the door and we're like I'm absent today.
00:04:59 --> 00:05:11 <v LaTisha>You know what I'm talking about school.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:14 <v LaTisha>My first year, I had a kid who came to school every single day.
00:05:14 --> 00:05:16 <v LaTisha>Oh my gosh, he was that kid for me, right.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:17 <v LaTisha>And one day he was tardy.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:19 <v LaTisha>It was 15 minutes and he hadn't come.
00:05:19 --> 00:05:21 <v LaTisha>I was like, oh, he's absent today.
00:05:21 --> 00:05:22 <v LaTisha>Oh, thank you, jesus.
00:05:22 --> 00:05:23 <v LaTisha>Thank you, jesus.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:24 <v LaTisha>This baby is absent today.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:24 <v LaTisha>I gotta worry about him.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:24 <v LaTisha>I gotta deal.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:24 <v LaTisha>Thank you, jesus.
00:05:24 --> 00:05:25 <v LaTisha>This baby is absent today.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:25 <v LaTisha>I ain't got to worry about him.
00:05:25 --> 00:05:26 <v LaTisha>I ain't got to deal with him today.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:28 <v LaTisha>And he showed up maybe five minutes later.
00:05:28 --> 00:05:31 <v LaTisha>I was like where did he come from?
00:05:31 --> 00:05:36 <v LaTisha>But I saw him maybe a year or two after he graduated.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:39 <v LaTisha>He was working at a fast food restaurant that I went by.
00:05:39 --> 00:05:47 <v LaTisha>He said Ms Ware, you were my favorite teacher.
00:05:47 --> 00:05:52 <v LaTisha>He was like I would make sure that my mom, if she scheduled me a doctor's appointment, that I made it to your class.
00:05:52 --> 00:05:53 <v LaTisha>And I was just like I feel bad.
00:05:53 --> 00:06:00 <v LaTisha>But that just goes to show that, even though deep down I was like I didn't want this little boy to come, I didn't treat him like that.
00:06:00 --> 00:06:14 <v LaTisha>I didn't treat him like that because I understood that there were some things that he might have been dealing with at home that I didn't see at school and I needed him to feel safe.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 <v LaTisha>I needed him to feel okay in my room to be able to be himself.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:21 <v LaTisha>And he was truly himself in my room, even though it got on my nerves.
00:06:21 --> 00:06:22 <v LaTisha>He was himself.
00:06:23 --> 00:06:33 <v LaTisha>If we, if we keep in mind one, like I said, the empathy part of it, but then also recognizing that these kids didn't grow up in our house, they didn't grow up in our house.
00:06:33 --> 00:06:36 <v LaTisha>We don't know what they went through last night.
00:06:36 --> 00:06:41 <v LaTisha>We don't know if, um, they saw their mom beat last night.
00:06:41 --> 00:06:45 <v LaTisha>We don't know if they, you know, didn't eat last night.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:48 <v LaTisha>We don't know what the sleeping conditions were.
00:06:48 --> 00:06:51 <v LaTisha>We don't know if they didn't sleep in their car.
00:06:51 --> 00:06:57 <v LaTisha>We don't know what that baby dealt with before they got to school.
00:06:57 --> 00:07:14 <v LaTisha>And so sometimes when those kids come in and they're so angry and they're just balled up, and when we come in and say why you didn't bring your pencil, the last thing that's on his mind is that pencil right, because he just watched his mama be beat last night.
00:07:14 --> 00:07:18 <v LaTisha>He didn't eat last night.
00:07:18 --> 00:07:20 <v LaTisha>The last time he ate was at lunch at school.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:34 <v LaTisha>And so when we recognize that and when we see that and we we embrace that empathy part of it, we can go in and say OK, hey, I see that you're upset today.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:37 <v LaTisha>I see that this morning is a little rough for you.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:39 <v LaTisha>How can I help you today?
00:07:39 --> 00:07:43 <v LaTisha>What's going on today?
00:07:43 --> 00:07:44 <v LaTisha>I'm mad.
00:07:44 --> 00:07:46 <v LaTisha>Well, you know what.
00:07:46 --> 00:07:47 <v LaTisha>I understand that you're upset.
00:07:47 --> 00:07:49 <v LaTisha>I got a box of crackers over there.
00:07:49 --> 00:07:51 <v LaTisha>Go get you some crackers.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:55 <v LaTisha>When you finish your crackers, go get you some water, and then we'll come back and reset.
00:07:55 --> 00:07:56 <v LaTisha>Let me know when you're ready.
00:07:56 --> 00:08:01 <v LaTisha>I don't have to have a battle with a kid, right, I don't have to.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:05 <v LaTisha>You know, be the pusher the first thing in the morning.
00:08:05 --> 00:08:07 <v LaTisha>No, I don't want to deal with that first thing in the morning.
00:08:07 --> 00:08:09 <v LaTisha>You don't as the teacher.
00:08:09 --> 00:08:12 <v LaTisha>When your principal comes to you and say, oh, why were you late?
00:08:12 --> 00:08:14 <v LaTisha>You was late for a reason.
00:08:14 --> 00:08:19 <v LaTisha>You didn't just wake up and say, oh, I'm intending to be late to work today.
00:08:19 --> 00:08:20 <v LaTisha>You know what I'm saying.
00:08:20 --> 00:08:34 <v LaTisha>And so if we take that mindset and deal with our babies that same way, then we will be so much better off with handling the disruptors that happen throughout the day.
00:08:34 --> 00:08:35 <v J. Lee>Very true, very true.
00:08:35 --> 00:08:37 <v J. Lee>But hold on to that thought, y'all.
00:08:37 --> 00:08:38 <v J. Lee>We're going to take a real quick break.
00:08:38 --> 00:08:40 <v J. Lee>Don't go nowhere, don't go too far.
00:08:40 --> 00:08:47 <v J. Lee>Get your water, get your snack, go ahead and do whatever it is you need to do for about five seconds and come on back and join us for this conversation.
00:08:47 --> 00:08:51 <v J. Lee>Are you a program director or thinking of starting a program?
00:08:51 --> 00:08:57 <v J. Lee>Maybe you need new curriculum that focuses on character development or technical skills.
00:08:57 --> 00:09:06 <v J. Lee>Maybe you need help establishing effective program logistics to have an impactful program culture, or, overall, you just need a program evaluation?
00:09:06 --> 00:09:17 <v J. Lee>Well, school After Hours Consulting is here to help Contact us at schoolafterhourscom and our contact information is in the show notes.
00:09:17 --> 00:09:19 <v J. Lee>Hope to hear from you soon.
00:09:19 --> 00:09:21 <v J. Lee>Hello everyone, welcome back to the show.
00:09:21 --> 00:09:31 <v J. Lee>We are talking about classroom management, how to help children when they're having those difficult moments, but also giving them some grace in the process.
00:09:31 --> 00:09:32 <v J. Lee>Right, because we all need a little bit of that when we're having those difficult moments, but also giving them some grace in the process.
00:09:32 --> 00:09:37 <v J. Lee>Right, because we all need a little bit of that when we're faced with a challenge and we frustrated and upset.
00:09:37 --> 00:09:41 <v J. Lee>So I'm going to go ahead and finish our conversation with Ms Letitia.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:51 <v J. Lee>So my second question for you, ms Letitia, is how important is relationship building when it comes to behavior management in a classroom?
00:09:52 --> 00:09:54 <v LaTisha>It is the most important thing.
00:09:54 --> 00:10:01 <v LaTisha>You cannot do anything without having a relationship.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:03 <v LaTisha>You have to Maslow before you can Bloom.
00:10:03 --> 00:10:06 <v LaTisha>That is just simple.
00:10:06 --> 00:10:12 <v LaTisha>Your basic needs have to be met in order for the thinking process to happen.
00:10:12 --> 00:10:24 <v LaTisha>One of the things that I find very important is that when we, as educators, teach our students or we want to reach our students, we forget that they're people.
00:10:24 --> 00:10:36 <v LaTisha>We forget that we are people too, and the same way we want to be treated is the way that we want to treat our babies Right.
00:10:36 --> 00:11:26 <v LaTisha>If I need to feel like a part of this learning environment as an educator, if I want you to hear what I'm saying to you as a teacher, if I want to feel like my opinion or my thoughts are being implemented within the things that are happening on this campus, so do your students, so do the little people in your classroom, and so if we can make them feel like they belong, like they're a part of a community, then they feel safe and then they can release all the other stuff that's going on and they can go into learning, and so I think that we, as educators, have to remember that we're people and we want to be treated a certain way.
00:11:26 --> 00:11:28 <v LaTisha>Our babies are the same.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:29 <v LaTisha>They are people and they need to feel a certain way.
00:11:29 --> 00:11:31 <v LaTisha>Our babies are the same they are people and they need to feel a certain way.
00:11:31 --> 00:11:39 <v LaTisha>So building relationships is the absolute most important piece to educating the child.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:53 <v LaTisha>When I taught at the middle school level, I had teachers who would come in and say this student does nothing in my room, why are passing your class and why are they working like that?
00:11:53 --> 00:11:55 <v LaTisha>Well, the first two weeks of school, we don't do work.
00:11:55 --> 00:11:57 <v LaTisha>We don't.
00:11:57 --> 00:11:58 <v LaTisha>We don't do work.
00:11:58 --> 00:12:08 <v LaTisha>I got to know my kids.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:15 <v LaTisha>We weren't touching, first of all, I never taught how to have a book, but we weren't touching books.
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 <v LaTisha>We weren't touching laptops.
00:12:17 --> 00:12:22 <v LaTisha>We were sitting around talking to each other, getting to know each other.
00:12:22 --> 00:12:38 <v LaTisha>Right, and because I took that two weeks to do it, we started to create processes and procedures, we started to get to know each other, we started to create what the dynamics of our classroom would be, and for two weeks, that's all we did.
00:12:38 --> 00:12:41 <v LaTisha>And sometimes, yes, we go on break and they would forget.
00:12:41 --> 00:12:45 <v LaTisha>No problem, no problem, I understand, we're human.
00:12:45 --> 00:12:48 <v LaTisha>I, I forgot to unplug my coffee maker.
00:12:48 --> 00:12:50 <v LaTisha>They sent sent me an email.
00:12:50 --> 00:12:52 <v LaTisha>Oops, my bad, I get it.
00:12:52 --> 00:12:57 <v LaTisha>We forget stuff and so we would just practice it again.
00:12:57 --> 00:13:02 <v LaTisha>We just give little nice reminders hey, remember what the expectation is in our environment, in our community.
00:13:02 --> 00:13:05 <v LaTisha>Yeah, I swear, all right, I got it.
00:13:05 --> 00:13:08 <v LaTisha>Okay, and that's just how that would rock.
00:13:08 --> 00:13:15 <v LaTisha>But all of that happened because I put in the work at the front end, and, yes, I had to remind them.
00:13:15 --> 00:13:25 <v LaTisha>Yes, I had students who would try to book the system, but because I put in the work, it wasn't as difficult as it would be if I didn't.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:45 <v LaTisha>Right, if you haven't put in the work to have those relationships with those kids, then you can't walk up to a six-foot boy who's getting ready to fight and stop anything, because they don't know that you're the safe place, they don't know that you have their best interest at heart.
00:13:45 --> 00:13:52 <v LaTisha>Because you haven't put in the work, but as, as soon as you do, it becomes a point of all right.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 <v LaTisha>I know Ms Ware is here.
00:13:54 --> 00:13:56 <v LaTisha>I know the respect level I have for her.
00:13:56 --> 00:14:03 <v LaTisha>I know that what we're not going to do is do anything that's going to make her upset the kids.
00:14:03 --> 00:14:04 <v LaTisha>They really just want to please you.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:09 <v LaTisha>They want the expectations, but they don't know it.
00:14:09 --> 00:14:14 <v LaTisha>They don't want you to tell them what to do, but they want you to suggest it.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:18 <v LaTisha>I get it.
00:14:18 --> 00:14:19 <v LaTisha>They're teenagers.
00:14:19 --> 00:14:39 <v LaTisha>They are completely in a whole different realm of life, right, but if you have that relationship with them and you reach out and touch them at the very beginning, it makes it so much easier um.
00:14:40 --> 00:14:47 <v J. Lee>so that brings me to my next question for you, which is when is it good to implement individual plans for students?
00:14:47 --> 00:15:04 <v J. Lee>When you're talking about building those relationships and once, once you have a rapport with them, kind of get them at a place where you're combining, like, social skills with academic skills to kind of make them stronger as individuals, when do you start to put those together and what are some key elements to put in those things?
00:15:06 --> 00:15:14 <v LaTisha>Start from day one, because we know that when we do our 504s, when we do our R's, the very first thing that happens is you have to have an observation.
00:15:14 --> 00:15:17 <v LaTisha>Your observation is when you are getting to know those babies.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 <v LaTisha>When you are getting to know those students.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:27 <v LaTisha>You are observing them, you are figuring out what their likes are, what their dislikes are, what are the things that make them tick.
00:15:27 --> 00:15:31 <v LaTisha>You're noticing when a student does this, this student reacts this way.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:36 <v LaTisha>When I say this or when I use this tone, this student does this.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:46 <v LaTisha>And then, once you've done your observation period just like when you have your IEPs and your 504 meetings now we need to get parent input.
00:15:46 --> 00:15:54 <v LaTisha>Okay, now that goes when you call in a parent and saying, hey, here's what I'm observing over the end of the classroom.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:58 <v LaTisha>I'm wanting to know is this something that you're seeing at home?
00:15:59 --> 00:16:04 <v LaTisha>If not how can I best help your baby?
00:16:05 --> 00:16:09 <v LaTisha>to be successful in my classroom and we involve the parents.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:12 <v LaTisha>Right Now, you've made a connection with the student.
00:16:12 --> 00:16:18 <v LaTisha>Now you've called the parent and you've said hey, I want to know how I can help your baby.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:25 <v LaTisha>I want to know what's your advice, what are some things that I can do?
00:16:25 --> 00:16:38 <v LaTisha>And if you are observing this at home, how can we team up to ensure that we stop this behavior or that we continue the behavior?
00:16:38 --> 00:16:46 <v LaTisha>You know, if it's something good, or that we teach and educate that the child on something, how can, how do we become a team?
00:16:46 --> 00:16:49 <v LaTisha>How can we collaborate together to make that happen?
00:16:49 --> 00:16:50 <v LaTisha>Right?
00:16:50 --> 00:17:01 <v LaTisha>So then you have your observation, you have your parent input and so now you're going to use data when you get ready to transition.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:03 <v LaTisha>How are those students behaving?
00:17:03 --> 00:17:22 <v LaTisha>Right, if this student gets upset easily during transition, or he's upset because he can't finish what we're doing right now, when I've just said, hey, we're going to close our book, if he gets upset and during the transition process, then I need to figure out what do I need to do to help him.
00:17:22 --> 00:17:23 <v LaTisha>That's data, right?
00:17:23 --> 00:17:35 <v LaTisha>Um, if you know that when you're coming back from lunch, your class is rowdy in elementary because it happens, right, you know that your class is rowdy.
00:17:35 --> 00:17:45 <v LaTisha>What are some things that you can implement on the way from lunch to the classrooms to help with the rowdiness?
00:17:45 --> 00:17:47 <v LaTisha>Right, that's data.
00:17:48 --> 00:17:54 <v LaTisha>So you're gathering all this data about what's happening in the classroom and what you're seeing.
00:17:54 --> 00:18:00 <v LaTisha>How many times does this student say can I go to the restroom?
00:18:00 --> 00:18:01 <v LaTisha>Can I go to the restroom?
00:18:01 --> 00:18:05 <v LaTisha>And then, at what part of the day are they saying can I go to the restroom?
00:18:05 --> 00:18:09 <v LaTisha>Are they saying it every day during math class?
00:18:09 --> 00:18:14 <v LaTisha>Are they saying it every day when they know you're going to call on them to read?
00:18:14 --> 00:18:18 <v LaTisha>Do they have a stomach ache when it's time to take a test?
00:18:18 --> 00:18:20 <v LaTisha>Right?
00:18:20 --> 00:18:23 <v LaTisha>So those are things that we want to collect data on.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:24 <v LaTisha>What am I seeing?
00:18:24 --> 00:18:31 <v LaTisha>Because, in order to build this individual plan for students, we have got to look at it in a holistic approach.
00:18:31 --> 00:18:36 <v LaTisha>We cannot just say, well, they failed this test.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:38 <v LaTisha>Okay, yes, they failed this test.
00:18:38 --> 00:18:44 <v LaTisha>What happened the day before that test happened, the week prior, when you were teaching this?
00:18:44 --> 00:18:46 <v LaTisha>What was going on?
00:18:46 --> 00:18:48 <v LaTisha>Were they paying attention?
00:18:48 --> 00:18:51 <v LaTisha>If they weren't paying attention, what was happening?
00:18:51 --> 00:18:51 <v LaTisha>Like?
00:18:51 --> 00:19:09 <v LaTisha>Those are things that we want to look at when we're doing an individual plan for these students, and so once we've developed that, or we've gathered all that information, we've done an observation, we've got our parent input, we have collected the data that we need, then we can go in and create a plan of action.
00:19:10 --> 00:19:38 <v LaTisha>So if I am observing that a student during transitions is getting upset, every time I tell him to close his book because we're getting ready to move on to something else, I know that on his plan for his success, I may need to go to him, tap him on his shoulder and say hey, james, I'm going to, in about three minutes, we're going to transition into this.
00:19:38 --> 00:19:42 <v LaTisha>So I want you to get ready for us moving on.
00:19:42 --> 00:19:46 <v LaTisha>If you have not finished, then I will let you finish later.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:55 <v LaTisha>I'm preparing him for what's going to happen, because what I want to stop is him getting upset because he didn't get to stop right.
00:19:55 --> 00:20:01 <v LaTisha>Not only that, but I'm teaching him that if I don't finish, it's okay.
00:20:01 --> 00:20:04 <v LaTisha>I'm teaching him how to self manage.
00:20:04 --> 00:20:08 <v LaTisha>It's okay because I can come back to it, right?
00:20:09 --> 00:20:16 <v LaTisha>So if I'm telling him this and I've given him the three minutes, so then at one minute, in about one minute, we're going to be changing.
00:20:16 --> 00:20:19 <v LaTisha>So what I want you to do is start preparing yourself now.
00:20:19 --> 00:20:25 <v LaTisha>Ok, hey, class, we're getting ready to change into science.
00:20:25 --> 00:20:27 <v LaTisha>I want you to get out your science folder.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 <v LaTisha>This is blah, blah, blah, blah.
00:20:29 --> 00:20:33 <v LaTisha>And you may have to go to James and say, hey, did you get a chance to finish your math work?
00:20:33 --> 00:20:34 <v LaTisha>Oh, you didn't.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:40 <v LaTisha>Okay, no problem, give it to me, because you know he's going to be doing it, trying to do it while you're doing something else.
00:20:40 --> 00:20:53 <v LaTisha>Give it to me, and then I'm going to save it for when we all, when everyone else does something, I, when everyone else does something, I'm going to have you come and do it with me, because if it's taking him that long to do it, he's not understanding and processing something.
00:20:53 --> 00:20:59 <v LaTisha>That means I need to touch him a little bit more.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:05 <v LaTisha>And so now I'm realizing that, academically, this is what he needs extra time.
00:21:05 --> 00:21:08 <v LaTisha>That means I need to be able to put what I have my focus groups.
00:21:08 --> 00:21:11 <v LaTisha>He's one of the kids I need to pull.
00:21:11 --> 00:21:13 <v LaTisha>I can see that.
00:21:13 --> 00:21:22 <v LaTisha>But not only have I been able to see it on an academic level, but now I'm able to control the behavior, because I prepared him for what's to come.
00:21:22 --> 00:21:28 <v LaTisha>I didn't just say to him James, you know, we're getting ready to switch sides.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:29 <v LaTisha>We do this every single day.
00:21:29 --> 00:21:31 <v LaTisha>Why are you acting like this every day?
00:21:31 --> 00:21:33 <v LaTisha>What does that change?
00:21:33 --> 00:21:39 <v LaTisha>What is that doing Nothing, yes, yes.
00:21:39 --> 00:21:41 <v LaTisha>Now he gets more upset.
00:21:41 --> 00:21:49 <v LaTisha>Now he realizes I didn't get to do it with other kids, so now I must be slower than other kids and my teacher don't care.
00:21:49 --> 00:21:52 <v LaTisha>And so we have to figure out.
00:21:52 --> 00:21:55 <v LaTisha>This baby doesn't have the tools to recognize that.
00:21:55 --> 00:21:57 <v LaTisha>I, as an adult, know that I need to set a timer Right.
00:21:57 --> 00:22:00 <v LaTisha>Him, as a kid, doesn't recognize that.
00:22:00 --> 00:22:03 <v LaTisha>You be that Right.
00:22:03 --> 00:22:25 <v LaTisha>So we figure out with the observations, with the parent input, with the data, how to create accommodations for that kid and no, they may not have a real 504, a real IEP, but they can have one of your class because you know how to pull out what's the best for that student and because you created that individual plan for that student.
00:22:25 --> 00:22:35 <v LaTisha>Now he can be successful, now you can teach him, Now you don't have behavior issues that are going on during your transition.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:42 <v LaTisha>So, yes, that's how we do it, one the things that we put into place, you do your observations by when you're getting to know your kids.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:47 <v LaTisha>You collaborate with your parents and getting the parent input on their babies.
00:22:47 --> 00:23:06 <v LaTisha>You start to collect your data and then, once you collect your data, you're able to create a plan of success for each of the students who are in your classroom, and many of them together, because if you're seeing the same behaviors and kids lump it together, I might have to go to James and Sam Right, I might have to.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:14 <v LaTisha>I might need to sit them at the same table so I can come to them and say, hey, we got three minutes Right.
00:23:14 --> 00:23:20 <v LaTisha>So that's the way you start to create your plan for your babies to be successful in the classroom.
00:23:22 --> 00:23:25 <v J. Lee>Well, everybody, that brings us close to the end of our show.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:27 <v J. Lee>Thank you for dropping all those gems.
00:23:27 --> 00:23:36 <v J. Lee>Like I said, I hope you had a pen and pad you can take some notes, but we're going to go ahead and go to our last portion of the show, which is our Professionals Lounge.
00:23:36 --> 00:23:54 <v J. Lee>Professionals Lounge is a segment of the show that allows guests to share advice with other practitioners in the OST and youth development field about how they can begin growing their gifts and talents but also develop themselves as professionals in the field.
00:23:54 --> 00:23:55 <v J. Lee>Here's our Professionals Lounge conversation.
00:23:55 --> 00:23:57 <v J. Lee>All right, everyone, we are in our Professionals Lounge section of our show.
00:23:57 --> 00:24:09 <v J. Lee>So, letitia, my question for you is sometimes we get into these power struggles with children, right, and their actions may not be directed at us, but something that may have happened with them.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:18 <v J. Lee>So, in that process, what can we do to not take it personal but also not internalize what has happened with that?
00:24:18 --> 00:24:18 <v LaTisha>child?
00:24:18 --> 00:24:19 <v LaTisha>That's a really good question.
00:24:19 --> 00:24:25 <v LaTisha>One of the things that I think about is I'm never going to argue with my son, that little eight-year-old.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:29 <v LaTisha>He can be a handful, but I'm not going to argue with him.
00:24:29 --> 00:24:31 <v LaTisha>Why am I not going to argue with him?
00:24:31 --> 00:24:31 <v LaTisha>I'm his mama.
00:24:31 --> 00:24:33 <v LaTisha>What I say is what we're going to do.
00:24:34 --> 00:24:36 <v LaTisha>I'm not trying to be the fun police.
00:24:36 --> 00:24:45 <v LaTisha>I'm not trying to make you upset or I'm not trying to go against what it is that you want.
00:24:45 --> 00:24:46 <v LaTisha>I'm here to love you.
00:24:46 --> 00:24:47 <v LaTisha>I'm here for your safety.
00:24:47 --> 00:25:12 <v LaTisha>I'm here to make sure that you are okay, right, and so if we take that into the classroom and we realize that everyone has bad days, everyone has a bad day, we have to take that into consideration and then realize that, again, they don't have the tools because they're kids.
00:25:12 --> 00:25:20 <v LaTisha>Realize that the traumas that they've dealt with at home are sometimes greater than anything that we've seen as adults.
00:25:20 --> 00:25:26 <v LaTisha>Realize that they're just little people trying to make it.
00:25:26 --> 00:25:28 <v LaTisha>And I don't care what age group you teach.
00:25:28 --> 00:25:34 <v LaTisha>I am currently working with college students and it is the same.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:44 <v LaTisha>They will say something and do something and I have to say, oh, so here's how we're going to respond to this.
00:25:44 --> 00:25:52 <v LaTisha>And here is how this happens, because what I recognize is you've never dealt with me and I've never dealt with you.
00:25:52 --> 00:25:56 <v LaTisha>Not only that, you may not be used to the expectations that I have.
00:25:56 --> 00:26:21 <v LaTisha>The other person that you worked with, the other teacher that they just came from they're switching classes may not have the same expectations, and so when we start to build those relationships, when we start to put processes and procedures in the classroom, it really starts to help the classroom management so much more than you could ever think of.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:24 <v LaTisha>It helps them to recognize one.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:24 <v LaTisha>We're good.
00:26:24 --> 00:26:26 <v LaTisha>I know what we're doing on a regular basis.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:43 <v LaTisha>If I'm upset about something, I know that I can go and talk to my teacher, and if I've said something that's wrong, I want us to be as educators, as the teacher, as the responsible adults in the room.
00:26:43 --> 00:26:45 <v LaTisha>When we mess up.
00:26:45 --> 00:27:00 <v LaTisha>Let's make it public when we do something that we shouldn't have done in our classroom, because sometimes we have bad days, right, and sometimes we get snappy with our kids on our bad days.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:09 <v LaTisha>We do I've seen it, I've done it so where we wouldn't have said something or we wouldn't have used that tone any other day.
00:27:09 --> 00:27:19 <v LaTisha>And so whenever I do use a tone that I shouldn't use, or whenever I say something I probably that probably was a little mean I can go in and say you know what?
00:27:19 --> 00:27:19 <v J. Lee>Hey.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:20 <v LaTisha>Tyrone.
00:27:20 --> 00:27:23 <v LaTisha>Ms Ware was wrong.
00:27:23 --> 00:27:24 <v LaTisha>I was out of line.
00:27:24 --> 00:27:28 <v LaTisha>I apologize for the way that I said that.
00:27:28 --> 00:27:31 <v LaTisha>I apologize if that hurt you.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:39 <v LaTisha>I apologize if anything that I said was something that you found offensive.
00:27:40 --> 00:27:43 <v LaTisha>Moving forward, I will not do that.
00:27:43 --> 00:27:51 <v LaTisha>I promise to be the same person to you every day, okay.
00:27:51 --> 00:27:58 <v LaTisha>And then once you've done that, now they see okay, I need to do that.
00:27:58 --> 00:28:02 <v LaTisha>Remember, I talked about the modeling, what you expect.
00:28:02 --> 00:28:09 <v LaTisha>So, when that student has done something that they're not supposed to, they've said something, they've acted out and they know that that's not what they're supposed to do.
00:28:09 --> 00:28:14 <v LaTisha>They know from you experience in the modeling, that you've done that.
00:28:14 --> 00:28:16 <v LaTisha>What they have to do now is apologize for their actions.
00:28:16 --> 00:28:28 <v LaTisha>And, just the same way that you would want Tyrone to forgive you, I need you to forgive this baby and realize all right, your slate's clean, your slate's clean, your slate's clean.
00:28:28 --> 00:28:31 <v LaTisha>Every day is a new day.
00:28:31 --> 00:28:47 <v LaTisha>You cannot bring in what happened yesterday with Tyrone today, right, because, again, the same grace, the same empathy that you want to have seen shown to you is the same empathy and the same grace that you have to show.
00:28:47 --> 00:28:50 <v LaTisha>To have seen Shown to you Is the same empathy and the same grace that you have to show to these kids.
00:28:50 --> 00:29:03 <v LaTisha>You don't like it when your administrator Holds over your head or continues to bring up the fact that you didn't do your lesson plan on time and so now.
00:29:04 --> 00:29:06 <v LaTisha>That you didn't do your lesson plan on time For three weeks.
00:29:06 --> 00:29:10 <v LaTisha>Now you have to go through an entire coaching process because you forgot to do your lesson plan.
00:29:10 --> 00:29:11 <v LaTisha>You don't like that.
00:29:11 --> 00:29:21 <v LaTisha>You do not like it, even though you know that that's the rules and that's the way it goes, like that's just the process and the procedures that are in place when you didn't do your lesson plan.
00:29:21 --> 00:29:23 <v LaTisha>Now you have to have one-on-ones with your principal.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:25 <v LaTisha>You know that, but you don't like it.
00:29:25 --> 00:29:46 <v LaTisha>So that does not say that the kid does not have the consequences based off of their actions, but what we have to teach them is when you do these actions, you have to deal with the consequences, but then, at the same time, you've got to make amends well.
00:29:46 --> 00:29:49 <v J. Lee>Thank you so much for sharing all this good information.
00:29:49 --> 00:29:54 <v J. Lee>So if anybody wants to get in touch with you, to reach out to you for your services, how would they do that?
00:29:55 --> 00:29:57 <v LaTisha>yes, yes, definitely so.
00:29:57 --> 00:30:02 <v LaTisha>Again, the name of my company is minds under construction.
00:30:02 --> 00:30:28 <v LaTisha>You can email me at hello at Letitia Ware dot com, or you can find me on Facebook with Underminds Under Construction, or you can give me a call for any type of consultations and that is at 682-392-0537.
00:30:28 --> 00:30:34 <v LaTisha>That email address again is hello at Letitia Ware dot com.
00:30:35 --> 00:30:37 <v J. Lee>Well, everyone, that brings us to the end of our show.
00:30:37 --> 00:30:45 <v J. Lee>If you like what you heard and you enjoyed our conversation, make sure that you're following us on YouTube, but also hit that like button so we know what you are enjoying.
00:30:45 --> 00:30:50 <v J. Lee>Hit that like button so we know what you are enjoying.
00:30:50 --> 00:30:53 <v J. Lee>You can also find us on other podcast platforms like Apple Podcasts, spotify and Google Podcasts.
00:30:53 --> 00:31:05 <v J. Lee>If you want to listen to our audio version as well, to get more behind the scenes stuff, make sure that you're following us on our social media accounts Instagram and Facebook at School After Hours.
00:31:05 --> 00:31:08 <v J. Lee>Well, that's all I have for today.
00:31:08 --> 00:31:14 <v J. Lee>In the words of Mr Arthur Ashe, start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.
00:31:14 --> 00:31:22 <v J. Lee>Until next time, y'all, bye-bye you.
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